'50s music goes on in 'Forever Plaid'

Up in Lights Productions musical debuts Friday at the Rialto

Actors in Up in Lights production of "Forever Plaid" perform one of the '50s songs from the musical. The show opens Friday at the Rialto Theater Center. (Special to the Reporter-Herald)

This is what happened: A band of four guys on their way to perform in their first concert die in a car accident, and are brought back to earth to perform the show they never got to do.

"Forever Plaid," a slapstick musical revue by Up in Lights Productions, starts this Friday at the Rialto Theater in Loveland.

If you go

What: Up in Lights Production of "Forever Plaid."

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturdays March 14-15 and 21-22; 2 p.m. Sunday, March 16, Saturday, March 22 and Sunday March 23.

Where: Rialto Theater Center, 221 E. Fourth St. Loveland.

Cost: $13-$15

"It's a very fun, satirical concert revue of 1950s music," said Britni Gerard, director and choreographer. A four-piece live band on stage will accompany the actors as they reminisce about the past and make sense of the presence.

The Forever Plaid bandmates - Mikeal MacBeth (Frankie), Cole Emarine (Jinx), Jordan Centeno (Sparky)and Charles Joseph Kelly (Smudge) - will use plungers as microphones while singing one song, and goof around to a high-energy Caribbean song in another act.

"It really has a beautiful ending where the guys get a chance to live their biggest dreams out on stage and I think that's really heartfelt and beautiful," Girard said. "It takes audiences on this wonderful journey of discovery."

Advertisement

The young men start out as amateurs in their craft but progress throughout the play. Girard said many people have heard of the play and it's one people always love to see again.

The musical performance will be reminiscent of old variety shows that brought the whole family together around the television set, Girard said. The actors will perform around 25 songs in all including numbers like, "Love is a Many Splendored Thing," "Three Coins in the Fountain," and "Heart and Soul."

The actors will also interact with the audience and move offstage during their acts.

"It's a neat show where you get to clap along and a lot of people know the music," Girard said.

The show will go on for two weekends.

And Girard said the company is excited to make some great announcements at each show about the company.

The production company has been awarded two Broadway premiers. Up in Lights will perform two shows that recently left Broadway — "Catch Me If You Can" and "Big Fish" — in Loveland this summer. Girard said Up In Lights will be the first to perform these new productions in Colorado.

"It's been a good season and we look forward to the upcoming season because we have many things happening," Girard said.

She is eager to begin work on the productions and said that the actors will put their own spin on the shows.

"We love presenting things that no one has seen before, as much as we love presented well-loved shows and making them fresh. We'll be the ones to set the standard," Girard said.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.